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A persnickty approach to life sparked by chlorine intoxication, saddle sores, & the solitude of a long run

Three-fer Thursday

The thing about me is that when it comes to training paraphernalia, I will try anything once. If it works, fabulous. If not, it goes into the basket for another fellow athlete to try and maybe it’ll do for them what it didn’t do for me.

As a result, I have tons of swim/bike/run gizzmos and gadgets. I have even more on my ever growing birthday and Christmas wish list. And, quite frankly, you would be simply frightened if you saw my amazon.com shopping cart!!

Right now I’m partial to a few so I’m going to enlighten y’all incase you haven’t seen or tried these fine items as of yet.

I am in total and complete love with my 2XU compression pants. I was first introduced to them when training for my first half marathon. I couldn’t get DOWN the stairs (oh yeah… you know that feeling!!) after my long runs and since our house is elevated 30 ft off the ground this was a huge dilemma. These compression pants had me back in working order within 12-15 hours. During tri season, I wear them on recovery days or when my legs feel like someone has taken a sledgehammer and beat my hamstrings to within an inch of their lifespan. Now I know a lot of people don’t believe in the science behind compression garments, but what I do know is this: My husband prescribes TED hose all day long to his patients for their venous/vascular leg issues. Its been around for a long time and obviously works for folks with decreased or poor venous function. Compression pants, especially a good pair, are pretty close to TED hose (as well as a pair of Spanx for that matter). My theory is better blood flow= better waste removal from the muscles= better recovery. If nothing else, they feel damn good and my legs feel fresh after wearing them. That alone makes this a winning item in my book. If you haven’t tried a pair of full pants yet, you really need to get a good pair. You’ll be hooked!

Speaking of recovery, this little gadget isn’t your ordinary foam roller. This bad boy is made of EVA foam, and is brought to you by the folks over at Trigger Point. It is designed to withstand more pressure than traditional foam rollers and it’s also much smaller at about 13 inches long which makes it a perfect travel companion. There are 3 zones, identified by the different “grid” patterns, designed to put varying levels of pressure on your body. One is designed to feel like fingertips, one like a forearm/palm and one like your fingers and thumb. I can not even begin to tell you how much this has helped work out the knots and kinks in my hamstrings and glutes this season. I honestly do not believe I would be able to run and/or cycle without my little friend here. He is a true lifesaver!!

Lastly is this little number I picked up online last week designed by the folks at Trix Gear. They have some of the coolest triathlon inspired apparel on the market today. I own 3-4 of their shirts including this latest purchase. They are cozy, fit great, and hold up well in the wash with all the other training laundry. Check out their website and pick up some gear for fall!!

Hopefully one of these three items have sparked your interest. If you decide to try something, let me know if you love it as much as I do.